Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Applications for the Medically Complex Children’s Waiver will be accepted during an open application period May 1-31, 2017.Purpose:This program provides medical assistance to children who are medically complex. This waiver serves the following population:

Children ages 0-18

Children who have 3 or more specialty physicians

Children who have 3 or more organ systems involved in their disability

Children who have a SSI Disability Designation through the SSA or a disability determination by the State Medical Review Board, this will be coordinated as part of the MCCW application process.

Children enrolled in the program will have access to Traditional Medicaid Services and Respite Services Applications will be accepted online through the webpage, via fax or mail. The application process will require parents to answer some questions about their child’s medical conditions and services. In addition, parents will be required to provide a copy of the child’s most recent history and physical by the Primary Care Provider. For more information see: http://health.utah.gov/ltc/mccw/ .For questions email mccw@utah.gov.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

OMH Announces Release of Phase Two Report on Eliminating the PublicHealth Problem of Hepatitis B and C in the United States

Today, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released the second phase of a report on eliminating viral hepatitis in the United States. The report, Eliminating the Public Health Problem of Hepatitis B and C in the United States, provides a U.S. strategy for eliminating hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection and the disease and mortality caused by these agents as public health threats by 2030. The report sets out elimination goals for the nation and a practical set of recommendations to scale up current prevention activities and focuses on five areas: (1) public health information; (2) essential interventions; (3) service delivery; (4) financing elimination; and (5) research.

Results from phase-one, released in April 2016, examined the feasibility of ending the transmission of hepatitis B and C in the U.S. and preventing further sickness and deaths from the diseases. The phase-one report concluded that eliminating hepatitis B and C in the United States is feasible, but it will take considerable will and resources. In the short term, it is feasible to control hepatitis B and C by reducing their incidence and prevalence.

The phase-two report outlines some key targets for the larger goal of eliminating the public health problem of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the U.S. by 2030:

Hepatitis B

A 50% reduction in mortality from hepatitis B (compared to 2015) is possible in the U.S. by 2030.

Meeting this goal will require diagnosing 90% of chronic hepatitis B cases, bringing 90% of those to care, and treating 80% of those for whom treatment is indicated.

Hepatitis C

A 90% reduction in incidence of hepatitis C is possible in the U.S. by 2030.

Meeting this goal will require treatment without restrictions and a consistent ability to diagnose new cases.

A 65% reduction in mortality from hepatitis C (compared to 2015) is possible by 2030.

Millions of Americans are living with viral hepatitis, and more than half don’t know they have the virus. Thus, they are at risk for life-threatening liver disease and cancer and unknowingly transmitting the virus to others. It is estimated that 3.5 million people are living with hepatitis C in the United States and 850,000 people are living with hepatitis B.

Viral hepatitis is especially a concern for racial and ethnic minority populations. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan 2017 – 2020:

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are the racial/ethnic group that is most heavily affected by hepatitis B virus; they comprise about 5% of the U.S. population but comprise about half of all persons living with hepatitis B.[1]

An estimated one in 12 AAPIs is living with hepatitis B infection. However, as many as two of three hepatitis B-infected AAPIs do not know they are infected because they have not been tested.

Africans Americans comprise approximately 11% of the U.S. population, but comprise 25% of people in the U.S. with chronic hepatitis C infections.

African Americans have higher rates of infection and hepatitis C-related death compared with the overall population.

African Americans aged 60 and older are 10 times more likely to be chronically infected with hepatitis C compared to other races.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people are the racial/ethnic group with both the highest rates of acute hepatitis C infection as well as hepatitis C-related deaths. The AI/AN HCV-related death rate is more than double the national rate. Hepatitis C-related hospitalizations among AI/AN people more than tripled from 1995 to 2007.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health thanks the National Academies for this vital report, which was sponsored by CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis and Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, HHS Office of Minority Health, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable.

Friday, March 24, 2017

The Utah Department of Health has a recruitment open for the following position:

Epidemiologist/Evaluator

$22.85 - $36.25

This is a full-time, career service exempt position with benefits.

Requisition # 11515

Closes: 04/05/2017 at 11:59 pm MST

In order to be considered for an interview for these positions, you will need to apply on-line at https://statejobs.utah.gov. If you have not done so already, you will need to create a job seeker account.

Monday, March 20, 2017

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2017 Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (Short Title: ReCAST Program) grants. The purpose of this program is to assist high-risk youth and families and promote resilience and equity in communities that have recently faced civil unrest through implementation of evidence-based, violence prevention, and community youth engagement programs, as well as linkages to trauma-informed behavioral health services. The goal of the ReCAST Program is for local community entities to work together in ways that lead to improved behavioral health, empowered community residents, reductions in trauma, and sustained community change.

For the purposes of this FOA, civil unrest is defined as demonstrations of mass protest and mobilization, community harm, and disruption through violence often connected with law enforcement issues. Communities that have experienced civil unrest share similar characteristics [1]:

·Barriers to access and lack of social services, health care, legal and political representation, housing, employment, and education;

·Current and historic strains in community and public sector relationships, e.g., law enforcement, school, health, and/or housing and community relationships; and

·Racial/ethnic minority and marginalized populations with experiences of poverty and inequality.

More information on these Initiatives is available at: http://www.samhsa.gov/about-us/strategic-initiatives. In addition, this program seeks to address behavioral health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities by encouraging the implementation of strategies to decrease the differences in access, service use, and outcomes among the racial and ethnic minority populations served. (See PART II: Appendix F – Addressing Behavioral Health Disparities.)

OMH Announces Release of Health Data for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Population

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the results of the first large-scale federal survey designed to provide detailed health information about the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island population in the United States. The project, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), was conducted in 2014 through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the CDC.

Data from the survey provide detailed information on factors such as access to and use of health services, health insurance coverage, immunizations, risk factors, and health-related behaviors about Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. The survey results can be used by policymakers, researchers, health professionals, community leaders, and others to help inform their programs and policies and to plan future interventions to help achieve health equity for this population.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics has developed a data brief that highlights differences in the prevalence of selected health conditions between the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population and the Asian population with whom they have been historically combined. The CDC has also made the data file publicly available.

“For years, we have been limited in our knowledge of the health status of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders because of their grouping with the larger Asian population,” said Carol Jimenez, OMH Acting Director. “This is a historic survey that for the first time provides a detailed look at the health status of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community, which is the first step in addressing the disparities that uniquely affect this community.”

The CDC partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau in order to increase representation of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households for this project. As part of this joint effort, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau collected data from approximately 3,000 households containing one or more NHPI residents, using the American Community Survey sample. Responses were collected by the Census Bureau and securely transmitted to the National Center for Health Statistics, where any personal identifiers were removed.

Majority of Dementia Caregivers Provide Care for Sustained Period of Time

In 2015, 59 percent of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers had been providing care for at least the past two years. And, that care is often intense and intimate: 64.4 percent of caregivers help with personal care like bathing and feeding, while 81.7 percent help with household activities like cleaning and managing money. These data come from a new analysis – conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Aging Program – of the Caregiver Module from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

The data demonstrate just a fraction of the burden Alzheimer’s and other dementias places on caregivers. Individual fact sheets are now available for the 24 states that used the Caregiver Module in their 2015 BRFSS surveys. With these new data, states can see the scope and burden of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, including the toll that caregiving takes on mental and physical health.

We encourage you to download your state’s fact sheet not only for your own use, but to distribute to health officials, public health practitioners, and state policymakers. Tweet the fact sheet, link to it on your website, blog about it. Data are only useful when used to inform policy and systems change, and that can only happen if the data are widely distributed.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Wins for new moms and babies including much-needed funding support for Early Intervention Services/Baby Watch (Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, SB 2) and SB 135 which will strengthen statewide, evidence-based home visiting programs for low-income mothers (Sen. Escamilla).

SB 100 (Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden) commissions an analysis of early childhood systems throughout the state, to determine where and to what extent early childhood services exist such as developmental screenings, home visiting, high-quality child care and preschool, as well as what access barriers there are between these services and the children and families who need them.

Access to Healthcare

A win for families is HB 278 (Rep. Chavez-Houck, D- Salt Lake City), which makes it easier for divorced parents to seek medical care for their children. It requires medical providers to separately bill each parent for their due portion, and prohibits a parent from getting a negative credit report if the other parent has not made his or her portion. The onus is no longer on the parent to track down the full payment or risk a bad credit score. HB 278 will help more kids get the care they need.

Sen. Christensen (R-Ogden) sponsored SB 51, which would return Medicaid managed care services to a fee for service model. Ultimately, this bill was decided outside of legislation, however, the agreement reached will help more children access a Medicaid pediatric dentist or school-based preventive dental care. To further monitor the issue, Sen. Escamilla (D-Salt Lake City) sponsored intent language that directs the Department of Health to investigate pediatric dental care access issues kids enrolled in Medicaid may experience (SB 2).

Immunization

Rep. Thurston’s (R- Provo) bill HB 308 which will strengthen protections for Utah students against disease outbreaks and standardize vaccination exemption requirements and procedures, creating an online education module for those seeking an exemption.

Rep. Eliason (R-Sandy), who was also the floor sponsor for SB 161, sponsored HB 223 which establishes a suicide prevention education program, including firearm safety curriculum to be made available in schools.
A big win this session for Utah kids is the repeal of the so-called “No Promo Homo” in SB 196. Previously schools were not allowed to discuss homosexuality in the classroom and curricula. This harmful and discriminatory policy was repealed thanks to the efforts of Sen. Stuart Adams (R-Layton), champions at Equality Utah and others for create a safer, creating more inclusive environment for Utah kids.

Juvenile Justice

For the last year, the state policy makers have been grappling with how to make Utah’s juvenile justice system work better for kids and our community. With the help of the Pew Charitable Trusts, a workgroup made up of key stakeholders—judges, mental health providers, police officers, school officials, prosecutors, and juvenile defense attorneys—made a number of strong recommendations including:

Keeping kids out of court for low-level status offenses like truancy.

Bringing much-needed structure to the sentencing process in the juvenile justice system.

Ensuring that kids don't spend time in detention just because they can't pay restitutions and fines.

Ensuring that children have their constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel.

HB 239, Juvenile Justice Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Lowry Snow (R-St. George), incorporated many of these recommendations and received near unanimous support this legislative session. The bill that finally will bring much-needed structure to juvenile sentencing, and require important training for system workers. However, the legislature failed to provide sufficient funding to ensure kids have access to community-based and school-based interventions that offer more opportunities for positive change and that Utah is meeting its constitutional obligation that kids have legal representation.

The passage of SB 134, Indigent Defense Commission Amendments, sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler (R-Salt Lake), may provide a forum to address the lack of legal representation for kids involved in juvenile justice system by expanding Utah’s Indigent Defense Commission’s mission to include looking at how Utah will protect children’s Sixth Amendment rights, not just adults.

Public Education

For decades Utah has languished at the bottom in terms of state investment in our kids. While big reforms inspired by the Our Schools Now initiative did not make it through in 2017 (The Our Schools Now ballot initiative, however, remains very much alive), the legislature did take a number of positive steps.

As a result of higher-than-expected revenue projections, the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee recommended a 3 percent increase to the value of the weighted pupil unit (WPU) — the basic unit of education funding — as well as $68 million for new growth in the state’s public education system.

HB 168 (Rep. Lowry Snow, R-St. George) appropriates just under $3 million in TANF funds to help schools establish kindergarten supplemental enrichment programs (extended-day kindergarten). Schools with at least 10 percent of their students experiencing intergenerational poverty will receive first priority for funding, followed by schools in which 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The bill also directs the State Board of Education to develop kindergarten entry and exit assessments to be used in conjunction with these programs.

HB 212 (Rep. Mike Winder, R-West Valley) provides bonuses for teachers working in high-poverty schools who have a 70 percent median growth percentile or higher (as determined by SAGE scores). The state and the school district will each provide half of the bonus funds. While there are concerns about the limitations imposed as a result of using SAGE scores as the sole determinant, it is nonetheless a good step toward incentivizing highly effective educators who work in high-need schools. The bill passed the Senate unanimously and now goes to the Governor.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Job Opportunities at The Children's Center include: Competitive salary and benefits. The Children’s Center is a private, non profit community agency that provides comprehensive mental health care to children and their families across the socioeconomic spectrum. We offer a range of services based upon the mental health needs of each child and family, including outpatient family and group therapy, as well as therapeutic preschool services. The Children’s Center is a partner with the National Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) so clinicians at The Center are able to participate in national trainings focused on the use of evidenced based treatments for early childhood trauma. Extensive professional training and supervision is provided.

_______________________________________________

JOB SUMMARY: Full time LCSW or CMCH to provide
comprehensive mental health services to very young children and their families
including assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning and Family and Individual
Child Therapy. Licensure is preferred
but CSW or ACMHC will also be considered.
Clientele includes children with severe emotional and behavioral
problems, early childhood trauma, and children with autism spectrum disorders
and their families. Successful
candidates must demonstrate clinical experience with toddlers and preschool
aged children and experience with evidence based trauma treatments.

REQUIREMENTS:

Utah
licensure as LCSW or CMHC

CSW or
ACMHC

Clinical
experience with children birth to age seven and their families

Experience
using evidence based interventions for childhood trauma

Excellent
spoken and written communication skills

Ability
to work independently, set priorities for assignments, meet deadlines, and
enthusiastically participate as part of an interdisciplinary team

Highly
motivated to learn new skills and work in a stimulating and busy clinical
environment

JOB SUMMARY: Full time Licensed Psychologist to
provide comprehensive mental health services to very young children and their
families including assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning and Family and
Individual Child Therapy. Clientele includes children with severe emotional and
behavioral problems, early childhood trauma, and children with autism spectrum
disorders and their families. Successful
candidates must demonstrate clinical experience with toddlers and preschool
aged children and experience with evidence based trauma treatments.

REQUIREMENTS:

Utah
licensure as Psychologist

Clinical
experience with children birth to age seven and their families

Experience
using evidence based interventions for childhood trauma

Excellent
spoken and written communication skills

Ability
to work independently, set priorities for assignments, meet deadlines, and
enthusiastically participate as part of an interdisciplinary team

Highly
motivated to learn new skills and work in a stimulating and busy clinical
environment

CONTACT: Send resumes to Douglas Goldsmith, Ph.D.
by email at dgoldsmith@tccslc.org or fax to 801-582-5540.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) created a new Training Tool Box for Addressing the Gender-Specific Service Needs of Women (draft). It is a resource to help trainers educate the workforce about the gender-specific needs of women with substance use disorders (SUDs).

The Tool Box allows trainers to create evidence-based, customized trainings. Attendees will leave with the resources and skills to better serve women, train staff and others about gender-responsive services, and make a compelling case for effective SUD interventions for women. This webinar will:

Offer an overview of the Training Tool Box and gender-responsive SUD services.

Teach attendees how to plan and deliver quality training and presentations on serving women with SUDs.

UServeUtah, the Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism, will be accepting applications for the operation of Utah State AmeriCorps programs. AmeriCorps provides support to nonprofits, community organizations, and public agencies committed to addressing critical issues in areas such as education, public safety, health, economic opportunity, the environment, and other human needs. Grantees and sponsoring organizations are responsible for recruiting, selecting, and managing members. New programs selected through this process will begin operation in the fall of 2017.

The application process will be explained in detail in mandatory AmeriCorps Funding Technical Assistance Meetings. Those interested in applying must attend one of the following meetings:

Spring is just around the corner and we are excited to let you know that our People Helping People Spring Single Mothers Seminar will be on March 23 at the Doty Education Center located on the campus of the Intermountain Medical Center in building #6 at the north end of the medical complex. The address is 5121 Cottonwood Street, Murray, UT (approximately 5121 S. 300 W.) from 5 – 8:30 pm. And best of all, it’s FREE!

The seminar will showcase 25 - 30 of our community’s best employers at our very popular Employer Open House, will spotlight valuable community partners at our Resource Fair and will feature a guest speaker, Peggy Larsen, Sr. Vice President, Marketing—WCF Insurance & President, Univantage Insurance Solutions, Integrating personal challenges for professional impact: Lessons from WCF’s First Female Executive.

Who’s Leading the Leading Health Indicators?Webinar: Mental Health New!

Tell your colleagues and friends about this great learning opportunity. Forward this email or tweet about the webinar.

Join us on Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. ET to learn about progress made toward achieving the Healthy People 2020 Mental Health Leading Health Indicators. You’ll also hear how one community organization is implementing the Sources of Strength Program to prevent suicide among youth.

The burden of mental illness in the United States is among the highest of all diseases, and mental disorders are among the most common causes of disability. Mental health is essential to a person’s well-being, healthy family and interpersonal relationships, and the ability to live a full and productive life. Early diagnosis and treatment can decrease the disease burden of mental health disorders as well as associated chronic diseases. Assessing and addressing mental health remains important to ensure that all Americans lead longer, healthier lives.

Under the general direction of the Health Officer, the Director of Health Promotion oversees the operation of Health Promotion Division of the TriCounty Health Department, supervises the Health Promotion staff, and performs assessment of division performance and other administrative activities. This position designs, implements and evaluates health promotion and wellness activities that meet the needs of the district residents and department contractual obligations. Examples of these activities include but are not limited to, tobacco prevention and control, violence and injury prevention, healthy living through environment, policy, and improved clinical care, etc.. The Director of Health Promotion articulates the concept of health and wellness throughout the community and collaborates with community partners on issues related to public health.